Is Your Office Manager Killing Morale?

People are complex and motivated by different things. One team member might be motivated by money while another may thrive on the prestige of working in a healthcare environment. Others may be intent on keeping a job simply because they need a paycheck to pay their bills. Regardless of the reason, it is the office manager’s responsibility to discover each staff members motivation and use it to build morale.

The Levin Group Data Center indicates that 96% of dental office managers have no management background. As a dentist, I understand that we often promote people we trust or who’ve been with us for a long time. Most staff members can be trained to be efficient office managers, but management is complex… and establishing a high level of morale stands out as one of the most challenging areas. Many office managers kill office morale… and dentists don’t realize that it’s happening.

On a 0-10 scale, with 10 being the best, how would you rate your office manager?

In a recent survey, the Levin Group Data Center determined that, on average, doctors rank their office managers at 8, while most staff members rank their office managers at about 4. The important takeaway from this isn’t which rating is more accurate… it’s the fact that there’s such a huge discrepancy. It’s also worth noting that, as soon as an office manager learns to use motivational psychology to increase morale, the ranking by staff members goes up. This is clear evidence that proper training for your office manager will result in higher team morale.

Staff members want to like their office manager.

Even though the office manager has authority over staff members, they want to like her personally… and be liked in return. This means they’ll try to please her and constantly observe her for signs of where they stand. This makes it relatively easy for the office manager to boost morale… in theory.

In fact, lacking management training, an office manager may not appreciate the fact that she’s being watched closely, every minute of every day. Just being herself… saying what she really thinks, acting in a way that causes anxiety, showing favoritism… can lead to problems.

One of an office manager’s most important responsibilities is building morale, but she can inadvertently end up killing it. To keep this from limiting the success of your practice, provide the expert training she needs to keep your team happy and productive.

Additional Resource

For more on a related subject, download Dr. Levin’s whitepaper “What’s Holding You Back?” Use code SUCCESS during checkout to receive your free download. Click here.